1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus provided in a composite device or copying machine, or the like, and in particular to an image reading apparatus equipped with an automatic document feeder, and to an image forming apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is an image reading apparatus equipped with an automatic document feeder (hereinafter, ADF) provided in a pressure plate which presses an original document onto a contact glass. In an image reading apparatus of this kind, for example, if the image reading apparatus is caused to perform a reading operation by a user B in an operating mode which does not use the ADF, while a user A has moved away from the image reading apparatus leaving a document set on the ADF, then the user B may fail to notice the document of user A which is set on the ADF. If user B is a person with a low line of sight, for instance, a person using a wheelchair, then he or she may not notice that user A's document is set on the ADF.
There are image reading apparatuses in which, even if there is a document that is placed on the contact glass, if a document is loaded on the ADF, then the document on the ADF is read rather than the document on contact glass. In this case, if the user B enters, for example, a fax transmission instruction in respect of his or her own document, without noticing the presence of user A's document which has been left on the ADF, then rather than performing a reading operation and fax transmission process in respect of user B's document, a reading operation and fax transmission are carried out in respect of user A's document.
On the other hand, an image forming apparatus of the following kind has been proposed. This image forming apparatus has a pressure plate mode in which a document placed on a document placement surface is copied by using an automatic document feeder which is attached openably and closably with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus, as a pressure plate, and an automatic document feed mode in which a document placed on the document table of the automatic document feeder is copied by being fed automatically. If the automatic document feeder is open during an image forming operation, then it is recorded that this image forming operation was carried out in pressure plate mode. If the automatic document feed mode is selected after completing a series of image forming operations and when starting the next image forming operation, and if it has been recorded that the previous image forming operation was carried out in pressure plate mode, then if a document is present on the document placement surface, information indicating this fact is displayed.
Furthermore, a scanner such as the following has been proposed. This scanner comprises a pressure plate which presses an original document against a document glass, and an opening and closing detection device which detects the opening and closing of the pressure plate with respect to the document glass; an image of the document is read by scanning the document placed on the document glass with a light exposure scanner. After the end of a document image reading operation, if a prescribed period of time has elapsed since the opening and closing detection device detected a closed state of the pressure plate, then the presence or absence of a document is detected by scanning the exposure scanner, and if the presence of a document is revealed, then a warning indicating that a document has been left behind on the document glass is issued.